(LEX 18) — Postseason basketball losses can take a real toll on fans' mental health, according to a sports social work expert — and for die-hard University of Kentucky supporters, this season has been a particularly tough one to endure.
Deano Sarantakos, a self-described UK super fan and alumnus, said the Wildcats have been difficult to watch this year.
"It hurts your heart and it's very frustrating. So this year's team's been really hard to watch," Sarantakos said.
Sarantakos described this year's squad as one of the most challenging he has followed in years.
"Easily the most difficult team I've watched in a long time so much good talent and just underperforming," Sarantakos said.
Losing to the Gators for the third time in a season is the kind of setback that experts say can genuinely affect a fan's well-being.
Dr. Tarkington Newman, director of the College's Sports Social Work Research Lab, said rough stretches on the court can have a measurable psychological impact on fans.
"When they're having a rough spell, it can definitely take a hit on your mental well-being," Newman said.
Newman said fans' psychological frameworks shift when their team struggles — a phenomenon known as "CORFing," or Cutting Off Reflected Failure. It's the reason fans tend to distance themselves from a losing team.
"Kind of think of those folks as kind of like abandoning ship, um, when things get, uh, kind of rough," Newman said.
The behavior shows up in subtle ways. Fans may avoid wearing their team's jersey the day after a loss, or catch themselves referring to the team as "they" instead of "we" when things aren't going well.
The flip side of CORFing is BIRGing — Basking in Reflected Glory — which Newman said is far more common among passionate fan bases.
"'BIRGing' is basking in reflective glory, and so it's in essence when fans kind of take on the persona of the team and they really identify and kind of embody with the team often and most often, obviously when there is success on the field," Newman said.
Sarantakos said that regardless of wins and losses, he keeps perspective on the players themselves.
"It's a tough grind. It's tough on these kids. They're just kids. I don't care what they're getting paid. They're still just kids," Sarantakos said.
Newman said Big Blue Nation tends to lean more toward BIRGing than CORFing, thanks largely to the program's storied history and its ability to attract high-level talent.
"There's a lot of pride that goes into that in part because they have been so successful, and their coach now was a player here," Newman said.
For Sarantakos, the energy inside Rupp Arena captures exactly what keeps Kentucky fans so deeply connected to the program.
"It doesn't take much when you, when you go, when you go to RUPP and, um, there's just a small moment, it's like that crowd gets, gets behind the kids and it is just breathtaking to be in there," Sarantakos said.
And that deep connection, Newman said, is at the heart of why wins and losses hit fans so hard.
"Fandom is so connected to your identity," Newman said.
